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Read V For Vendetta (Alan Moore and David Lloyd) recently, which, if I'm being honest, I found a little disappointing despite all the hype that surrounds it. However, it was still a good read and fairly thought-provoking.

I'm currently re-reading Watchmen (Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons) which I first read back in my teens. This has got to be the best graphic novel - indeed, work of fiction - I have ever read. Quite superb. If you're into comics and graphic novels (and even if you're not) I would highly recommend you give this one a go.

I've also got From Hell (Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell) on order from Amazon and really looking forward to reading it. It appears to be a highly detailed account of the Jack the Ripper story, weighing in at a coffee table-creaking 572 pages. Can't wait to start this.

Anyone have any other recommendations? I have The Dark Knight Returns somewhere in the attic, which I will no doubt re-read at some point. It was a great work, if I recall. I'm also considering getting myself a copy of Blankets by Craig Thompson, which sounds quite interesting if this little blurb is anything to go by...

Blankets by Craig Thompson (Top Shelf; 2003)

This semi-autobiographical novel set in the snowy hinterlands of Wisconsin tells the story of a lonely, artistic young man who struggles with his fundamentalist Christian upbringing when he falls in love. Fluidly told over 582 pages, Blankets magically recreates the high emotional stakes of adolescence. Thompson has set new bars for the medium not just in length, but breadth.

Yes, I'm getting back into my graphic novels again.

'Watchmen' is great, but ultimately spoiled for me by the extreme ludicrosity of the villian's plot when it is finally revealed.

I also found 'V for Vendetta' disappointing. Perhaps Alan Moore was so unhappy with the movie version because it is so much better than the book

On the whole though, I have given up on graphic novels because I read them too fast... they're not very cost-effective.

i'll stick to my Marvel. reading through the Civil War at the moment. The Madness....... FUlly reccommended but is NOT a place to start reading, I can imagine if you don't have a solid knowledge of the marvel universe it will all be a bit confusing.

On the subject of comics:... Who watches Heroes? and who can link the characters in their to ones in Marvel (we're not having any of the DC malarchy round 'ere) ? I'm still stuck on who to link nathan petrelli to

100 Bullets - A great crime / film noir-y graphic novel series

Preacher - Perhaps my favourite series with a great sense but dark sense of humour about a preacher with huge powers hunting down god in order to answer for his creation with a vampire and gun toting girlfriend in tow.

Transmetropolitan - Another cracker set in the future with a wicked sense of humour and so many great ideas.

Sandman -A comic book classic but I've not read it myself yet.

[quote="Bicycle808"]Read V For Vendetta (Alan Moore and David Lloyd) recently, which, if I'm being honest, I found a little disappointing despite all the hype that surrounds it. However, it was still a good read and fairly thought-provoking.

thats the only graphic novel ive ever read and i loved it.... i should read more but havent, nice thread idea btw...

Big comics fan myself.

You can't go wrong with Alan Moore's stuff, i've read a hell of a lot of his stuff and it's consistently good.

Bicycle808 wrote:I've also got From Hell (Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell) on order from Amazon and really looking forward to reading it. It appears to be a highly detailed account of the Jack the Ripper story, weighing in at a coffee table-creaking 572 pages. Can't wait to start this.

It is absolutely amazing, you will not be disappointed. I read it in about a week, i was unable to put it down until my eyes bled.

Other recommendations from me....

The League of Extrodinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore, brilliantly original fun stuff, ignore the film, pretend it never existed, and Tom Sawyer was inserted by Hollywood to serve the role as the handsome american everyman.

Preacher -by Garth Ennis, Uber readable gripping stuff.

The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman - My favourite on going comic all about a group of survivors of a zombie outbreak.

Powers by Brian Michael Bendis - Homicide police investigating superhero releated crime, excellent.

The Crow - Comic the film was based on, brilliant.

Sin City - (and anything by Frank Miller) - Compulsive stuff.

Fell by Warren Ellis and Ben Templesmith - Almost Derren Brown-like, body language reading copper in a corrupt city.

I read Buffy, Angel and The Simpson graphic novels, I also have two Spider-man graphic novels but I haven't read them yet

Thanks for the recommendations, guys. Some of them sound good, especially Preacher; I will have to check them out at some point.

Just ordered Blankets - slightly different to the kind of stuff I normally read but I think it's well worth a look. And it may, just may, even appeal to my wife.

I've not really read many. Although I am venturing into them with Buffy Season Eight (and, soon, Angel Season Six). Good stuff...

I've got to check out the Shaun of the Dead one as well!

Lawrence wrote:I'll stick to my Marvel. reading through the Civil War at the moment. The Madness....... FUlly reccommended but is NOT a place to start reading, I can imagine if you don't have a solid knowledge of the marvel universe it will all be a bit confusing.

On the subject of comics:... Who watches Heroes? and who can link the characters in their to ones in Marvel (we're not having any of the DC malarchy round 'ere) ? I'm still stuck on who to link nathan petrelli to

I read a little 'Civil War', partly because the trigger event for the story was set in my current home town. I loved the concept of it all, but once it seemed to turn into a series of battles I lost interest.

'Heroes' I thought was great, the second season started over here a few weeks ago. I haven't really thought about linking the characters to Marvel people.

I would also like to highly recommend a novel (not graphic, just a novel) called 'Soon I Will Be Invincible'. by Austin Grossman. I found it in Borders on my last trip back to the UK. If you enjoy superhero stuff that tries to ground it all in the real world as far as possible, this is an absolute treat.

I love graphic novels. Some of my favourites are based on horror films or those that inspired films in the first place , such as the crow, the hellraiser films, the league of extrodenary gentlemen, constantine and various vampire stories.

One of my favourites is also 'god loves man kills'. Its an x-men comic that deals with a future world . Its the sort of story thats terribly sad in a way, but one thats incredibly 'real'. If the events were to actually happen, than thats what the world would very possibly end up like

Cardza wrote:I've not really read many. Although I am venturing into them with Buffy Season Eight (and, soon, Angel Season Six). Good stuff...

I've got to check out the Shaun of the Dead one as well!

I didn't know they kept going with the buffy graphic novels cause I had a hard time getting the last ones cause I heard they stopped selling them cause the tv series had ended
Obviously I know the last tv series were Buffy season seven and Angel season five but the last Buffy graphic novel I read was Notes from the underground which came out in March 2003, and the last Angel I have is spotlight which came out in december 2006, didn't know there were ones after those two

I used to read graphic novels a great deal in the eighties. V is one of my favourite books, and I'm consitantly inspired at how the story links everything together. To be honest, this usually comes to light after a couple of readings. The film was too sanitised, and due to time constraints they had to excise large chunks of the plot.

Dark Knight is a classic (beware the recent sequel). I have a fond memory of being in a train carriage somewhere in Europe in 1987 and spending most of an evening quoting the whole book with an American backpacker. Yep, we quoted all of it...

Preacher and Sin City are two series that I would definitely recommend.

I could never get into Watchmen, for some reason.

But my favourite series is Lone Wolf and Cub. I had the single issues that were translated in 1987/88, but then I got the complete set when they came out in original format a few years ago. 29 volumes of classic story telling that could be amusing on one page, and move me to tears on another. My wife didn't take it too kindly when I suggested Diagoro as a possible name for my son...

Take care, Ian

IanKendall wrote:I used to read graphic novels a great deal in the eighties. V is one of my favourite books, and I'm consitantly inspired at how the story links everything together. To be honest, this usually comes to light after a couple of readings. The film was too sanitised, and due to time constraints they had to excise large chunks of the plot.

Take care, Ian

For me, the film of 'V for Vendetta' was superior. I thought the writers did a great job updating the themes from the Thatcher era to a more contemporary world. I would disagree that they excised particularly large parts of the plot, and frankly I was very happy that the peculiar computer from the novel was removed. I might just be stupid, but that particular part of Moore's story made no sense whatsoever to me.

As far as the movie being sanitised, I was surprised how little that was done. Besides Evie's character being 'cleaned up', I can't think of much that would fit that description.

Misanthropy wrote:

Cardza wrote:I've not really read many. Although I am venturing into them with Buffy Season Eight (and, soon, Angel Season Six). Good stuff...

I've got to check out the Shaun of the Dead one as well!

I didn't know they kept going with the buffy graphic novels cause I had a hard time getting the last ones cause I heard they stopped selling them cause the tv series had ended
Obviously I know the last tv series were Buffy season seven and Angel season five but the last Buffy graphic novel I read was Notes from the underground which came out in March 2003, and the last Angel I have is spotlight which came out in december 2006, didn't know there were ones after those two

They're still going, and these are all canon, with Joss involved in the story planning and he's written a few as well. I think Buffy's going for about forty or so issues and Angel's is currently at twelve, although Angel has yet to begin.

It's certainly interesting to see how things turn out post Sunnydale .